Animate Europe
Competition Archive
A few years ago, the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs issued a call for innovative ideas to communicate European values – we took action and came up with Animate Europe.
The aim of this competition is to learn more about the core ideas and values of Europe and to see and discuss how it is perceived by its citizens – especially those who are not surrounded by political discussions in their everyday lives.
Since 2013, we have been launching Animate Europe every other year. Past competition rounds featured the following topics:
Current competition (2021): “Streets of Europe”
Any questions about our current competition round? Click here!
Animating Europe: Connecting Comics and Politics
What we were looking for in particular in contributions is a creative engagement with questions like:
What vision do you have for Europe? – What can or should the future of Europe look like? – How is Europe dealing with current crises? – What topics and values lie at the core of Europe and shape it? – What added value does Europe provide for its citizens? – How can Europe regain its energy? – What are the ties that hold Europeans together?
Our finalists’ comics tell very different stories of Europe’s past, present and future, its opportunities, its problems, and its secret weapons. They provide lots food for thought on the Europe we would like to live in.
How We Pick our Finalists
Our competition is split in two phases: an initial submission phase, follwed by a second round of submission for selected finalists.
Up to the 2019 round, we asked participants for a written story draft accompanied by a first finished comic page. In a second step, our expert jury selected a group of finalists who were then asked to finish an eight-page graphic story. As of 2020, we ask for stand-alone single-page graphic stories exclusively. In the first round, our finalists will be selected based upon their submission one to three finished one-pagers. Finalists will then be asked to submit another four independent one-pagers.
In-between Competition Rounds: What Else do We Have Up Our Sleeve?
After each competition round, all finalists’ comics are featured in a printed publication as well as on our homepage. Check out or download all previous finalists’ comics or contact us to order free hard copies!
In-between competition rounds, the comics are always on the go in our travelling exhibition – after all, we want to talk about Europe and share our stories with as many people as possible! We also regularly partner up with our finalists for joint workshops to spread our comics’ messages.